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Continuity Errors
Over the 59 years Coronation Street has been on air, there has been many scriptwriters, and storyline editors, plus producers. It is inevitable that there has been continuity errors over the years and this page explains many of them. The show has had an archivist since about 1969, the first one was Eric Rosser then Daran Little. It should be noted that due to the high number of episodes being produced, things will be overlooked such as birth dates or wedding years and could just be put down to character's slipping up or being forgetful (let's face it, does everyone in real life have a full account of when things exactly took place in their own personal lives?) Plus when characters and stories start out, things are not set in stone as writers won't know the popularity of such things, so probably don't take into account birthdays and wedding anniversaries. One major continuity error was Bert Tilsley, who moved into the street in 1979, was originally called Jack Tilsley in 1975, and played by a different actor. His wife Ivy Tilsley said she had never been blessed with children in 1975 yet 4 years later, she had a 21 year old son Brian Tilsley. At the start of the 1980s when Mike Baldwin's father Frankie appeared it was mentioned that Mike was an only child. However this was retconned in 2004 when it turned out Mike had a brother and a 'nephew' named Danny Baldwin. The manner of Frankie's death was also altered. Originally he passed away at home, however during Mike's birthday in 2002 it was mentioned that he died while golfing. Continuity Errors *In December 1960, Annie Walker said her birthday was June but later scripts said August. *In 1961, Ena Sharples said she was the oldest resident of the street (Aged around 70) but later sources give her year of birth as 1899, and fellow street residents Albert Tatlock was born in 1895, and Martha Longhurst in 1869, thus making Ena younger than Albert and Martha Longhurst. *Elsie Tanner was meant to be 40 in 1960 (1920) if her youngest son Dennis Tanner was 22 in 1960 (1938), and Elsie was 16 when she had Linda, who was older than Dennis, but Elsie's year of birth was later altered to 1923, same as the actress. She turned 41 in March 1964. If you go by her original age, she'd have been born in 1920. *Dennis Tanner was 22 in 1961 makes his birth year 1938 , but 70 in 2012 alter his birth year to 1942. He should have been 73 in 2012 if he was 22 in 1961. *Ken Barlow was 24 in January 1962, but later was said to be born in October 1939, hence his 60th in October 1999. If you go by his age in early 1962, he'd be born October 1937. *In 1961, Jack Walker said he had been wed to Annie Walker for 26 years (1934/1935). Yet later refs say they wed in 1937. *In July 1962, Jerry Booth was said to be 19 (1942/1943) but later sources say August 1941, which means Jezza would already be 20 in July 1962. *In 1975 Ivy Tilsley said that she had never been blessed with children but in 1979 she had a 21 year old son Brian Tilsley. *In 1976 Gail Potter mentioned her mother and father and how they were strict religious people. But in 1979 Gail's single mother Audrey Potter turned up, having never been married and had 2 illegitimate children. *Until 1980, it was never stated or hinted at that Elsie Tanner's daughter Linda Cheveski and her husband Ivan Cheveski had had a second child after Paul Cheveski in 1961. They returned a few times in the 1960s after emigrating to Canada, such as in 1967 but they never said they had another child. And in 1978, Elsie recieved a birthday card from Ivan, Linda and Paul. Yet in 1980, 16 year old Martin Cheveski arrived, coming to see his grandmother. *In 1982 Rita Tanner (then Fairclough) said her uncle Sam Littlewood had died. But in March 1987, she mentioned an "Uncle Sam" who ran a launderette. May have been a maternal uncle as Sam Littlewood was her paternal uncle. *In 1983, Eunice Gee wanted to divorce her estranged husband Fred Gee due to her wanting to get married again. But when Eunice returned in 1999 she was credited as Eunice Gee and made no mention that she had been married after she split from Fred. (It is plausible things didn't work out between her and the man who wanted to marry and the wedding never went ahead) *In a storyline in 1987 it was claimed that Susan Barlow aborted her and Mike Baldwin's unborn child, however in 2001 it transpired she kept it and had a son named Adam in 1988. This creates errors concerning Susan's motivations. She didn't want to leave Mike Baldwin when she aborted the child, but was simply not ready for motherhood, but her 2001 return made out that she did it to get away from him. Also in 2001 it was made out Ken hadn't seen Susan since she left in 1987, despite the fact he visited her off-screen in the 1990s. *In April 2012, Betty Williams died. She was famously Betty Turpin for many years before she married Billy Williams. At Betty's funeral, it was revealed that in 1984, Annie Walker bequeathed The Rovers Return pub to Betty in her will. Yet in 1984, Annie only owned the tenancy, not the pub itself. The brewery owned the pub until 1995 when they sold it. By 1995, Annie had been gone for 11 years. So the pub was not actually Annie's to bequeath to anyone. Also if Betty knew this, why would she have kept quiet all these years? In 1995, when landlady Bet Gilroy wanted to buy the pub, why did Betty say nothing to her good friend? Either Betty never accepted the bequest or the brewery voided it, or Betty did accept it but kept quiet. The 2012 reveal does seem to be sloppily researched, and leaves a lot of loose ends. Maybe Betty secretly sent Annie a letter declining the offer. *In 2012, Rita said that she met Dennis Tanner in The Rovers in 1964. Yet in the 1964 episode itself, Ep 415 - 2 Dec 1964, it was revealed that Dennis had known Rita for some time. (It is possible she was just recollecting the last time she met him, plus that episode would be familiar with most viewers as it was the first time they got to see the pair of them meet on-screen. Later in 2012 Dennis and Rita reminisced about an off-screen occurrence in which they interacted on the day John F Kennedy died in November 1963, almost a year prior to Rita's first appearance) *In another odd case, Michelle Connor found out her son Ryan Connor wasn't her biological son but a kid named Alex Neeson who was accidentally swapped at the hospital. The storyline lasted a few months, and Alex ended up disappearing from the show for good. Subsequent episodes appear to hint that Ryan is now considered Michelle's biological son. As of July 2016 it has been over eight-and-a-half-years since Alex last appeared, four producers have succeeded Steve Frost (who was in charge of the time Alex was in it) so it seems unlikely Alex will be brought back. In a July 2016 episode, Michelle spoke of Ryan as her biological son. (Note: Alex ended up being brought back in February 2018, just nearing ten years since his last appearance on the show and Michelle acknowledging that he is biologically related to her. It is likely the writers wanted to ignore the storyline, until Kate Oates made the bold move to revisit it in 2018) *Dev Alahan's twin children celebrated their tenth birthday in January 2015, even though they were born in January 2006 (so should have been 9). *In late 2016 it turned out Daniel Osbourne was living alone without his mother Denise for six years, meaning she abandoned him in 2010. However Ken went to see them in late 2011 for a few days. Despite this though it was implied Ken hasn't seen Daniel at least since his last appearance in 2007. *In November 2017, it was revealed that Billy Mayhew was in the vehicle that accidentally killed Susan Barlow in February 2001, 16 years earlier. He had told the driver to drive away even though the crash was fatal. They were on the run from an armed robbery. However in 2001 it was said that Susan ran off the road and crashed into a fence and her death was not suspicous, and no other vehicle was involved. *In July 2018, it was announced that Katie McDonald may still be alive, and there was a mix up at the hospital, and the baby who died was not Katie. God, Wethy General is the Baby Mix Up Capital Of Hospitals. Minor script errors In 2000 Kevin Webster lost a son named Jake, which was subsequently followed by the demise of his wife Alison. However in 2015 when his girlfriend Jenny Bradley had a breakdown over the death of her own son, Kevin told her he couldn't imagine what it was like to lose a child - despite the fact he himself was in this situation. This caused viewers to complain, and producer Stuart Blackburn apologised and put it down to a script error. When Jenny returned in 2016, this was fixed and Kevin acknowledged his deceased son. Visual errors Over the years, due to 4 different purpose built sets used to represent the actual Coronation Street, the layout of the street has changed over the years, such as in 1961 a ginnel was seen inbetween the Rovers a No 1, then it disappeared and No 1 was joined onto the pub next door. From 1982 onwards, the ginnel has remained inbetween the pub and No 1, so as to quell the "Rovers toilets leading straight into Albert's front room" rumours. The viaudct has changed shape and size over the years as well. Until 1964, the archway was quite big, then later on it was 2 or 3 smaller archways (different backcloths in the studio). From 1968 to 1982, the viaduct was much larger (due to the ste moving outdoors and flanking a real viaduct). The 1967 train crash could explain the difference in the pre 1967 and post 1967 viaudct appearance. The section of the viaudct overlooking Coronation Street had to be rebuilt after the train crash. By 1982 the viaduct looked less imposing and was smaller, and cleaner (a new outdoor set was built) Also, the houses seem to have grown in size and the actual street has widened. In real life such occurrences could not happen without major building work, but maybe the road was widened offscreen. Also the surroundings of Coronation Street have varied over the years. Jubilee Terrace has magically disappeared then reappeared. Possible explanations for some of the continuity errors Gallery corrie street 1962.png|The Corner Shop in 1962. corrie street 1965.png|The Corner Shop in 1965 in the background. Notice the viaduct arches have shrunk since 1962? Category:Coronation Street. Category:Lists.